SEBERANG PERAI, Oct 3 — The iconic ferries of Penang often formed part of the early memories of many a Penangites who travelled between the island and the mainland regularly.

It is no different for Penang-born artist Mohd Azmi Mohd Hussin who used to take the ferry over to the island with his grandmother in his younger days.

So, when Azmi was commissioned by Printhero Merchandise Sdn Bhd to paint his comic characters on the Penang Ferry Museum, it brought back memories of the ferry rides he used to take and this was reflected in the excitement on the faces of his characters.

"I remembered that after the Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim jetty platform collapsed in 1988, I was too scared to take the ferry so my grandmother used to try to entice me to take the ferry with her by promising to buy snacks from the snack shop on the ferry,” he said.

"She would also pretend that there were dolphins in the sea and will tell me to look out the windows to look for dolphins during the ferry ride to distract me from my fear,” he added.

Azmi eventually overcame his fear of taking the ferry and by his teenage years, he used to cycle to the ferry terminal from Permatang Pauh to take the ferry over to the island and then cycle to Komtar.

"I will cycle with my friends to go hang out in Komtar,” he said.

He said they will take the ferry to go over to the island for events such as Merdeka celebrations too.

When Azmi became an artist full time back in 2013, one of his dream was to one day have his art emblazoned on Penang’s iconic ferry.

"Legendary Malaysian cartoonist, Lat (Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid) had his comic characters displayed on the AirAsia plane so I was thinking, I want my art to be on the Penang ferry,” he said.

This opportunity to draw his characters on the Penang Ferry Museum made his dream came true.

Azmi started painting his characters, 79 of them, in various poses looking out the windows of the ferry that have been blocked up for the ferry museum in early September.

It took him about a month to complete the artworks and he felt honoured to be given the opportunity to paint on the iconic ferry, which is now part of Penang’s heritage.

"I am also happy to paint my little mamak and my grandmother (nani) characters on it, our memories of the ferry rides together will remain there,” he said.

The old iconic ferries, some commissioned in the 1970s, were retired at the end of 2020.

One of it, Pulau Pinang, was leased to Printhero Merchandise Sdn Bhd by Penang Port Commission (PPC) to be turned into the Penang Ferry Museum.

After Azmi completed painting his characters on the ferry, the ferry will make its final journey across the Penang Strait from the Bagan Dalam Slipway to Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal today (Oct 3).

The ferry will then be fully refurbished and turned into a museum and parked at Tanjung City Marina.

The ferry museum is expected to open next year.